


Welcome To Central City

by CWMaddy (orphan_account)



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Crossover, Metahumans, Multi, Non-Canonical Character Death, Prompts Accepted, Superheroes, Team Arrow, Team Flash, one shots, pairing - Freeform, particle accelerator explosion, super powers, villain vs hero
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2015-04-05
Packaged: 2018-03-03 15:56:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2856665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/CWMaddy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of one shots based off of the CW's & dc comics tv series The Flash. I take prompts, and I'll write mostly anything. More details inside! Enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Trouble

**Author's Note:**

> Danielle Campbell plays all three girls  
> Trisha has telekinesis  
> Tatiana has telepathy  
> Tammy has teleportation  
> The letter T is an alliteration gag throughout the one shot  
> I ACCEPT PROMPTS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Triplets Tatiana, Trisha, and Tammy are 16 year old girls who live in Central City. They are constantly arrested for vandalism and shoplifting, yet can never be proven guilty. This is because no one knows there are three of them, so the police always arrest the wrong triplet! So when the particle accelerator explodes, they all get powers that make their life of mild crime a whole lot more exhilarating

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Danielle Campbell plays all three girls  
> Trisha has telekinesis  
> Tatiana has telepathy  
> Tammy has teleportation  
> The letter T is an alliteration gag throughout the one shot  
> I ACCEPT PROMPTS

Tammy ran until her lungs burned for air, her legs heavy like led. She held seventy dollars in her right hand, which was getting sweaty. She'd robbed Jitters before, but this time she just felt different. Guilty, maybe? The young woman who had taken her order at the counter just seemed so kind, it made her want to go back and steal from maybe a couple of kids or something.

What was her name? Paris? No... Iris! That was her name. Her whole being just looked happy and loving: chocolate brown hair and slightly lighter skin, big pearly white smile, cheery unwavering voice, Tammy mentally slapped herself for even thinking about backing out on the robbery! She needed to do it, for herself, her sisters, they needed it to get by.

Tammy stopped abruptly, realizing she could've just TELEPORTED away once she was out of sight!

'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' She berated herself.

In a rush, without focusing on a place she wanted to be, Tammy evaporated. Her senses ceased, all she saw was darkness and she heard thick heavy silence. She felt as if she was floating. This was how she always felt while teleporting from one place to the other. The feeling lasted for about 10 seconds before her feet touched solid ground, and as she observed her surroundings, she growled in frustration. She was inside an alley, dead end.

She kicked the dirt-smothered red brick wall. A voice from behind her made Tammy turn around.

"Looks like you're stuck," The male voice said smugly.

The voice belonged to a tall male clad in a red leather-ish suit, with a bright yellow lightning emblem on his chest. A dark red mask covered his whole head besides his eyes and mouth. He smiled a smile that matched his attitude, showing straight white teeth. Two could play at that game.

"That all you got red?" Tammy crossed her arms, stuffing the money in her pocket.

"Hey, I might be fast, but thinking about clever phrases to say to the bad guy I'm about to catch is difficult," the man countered, shrugging.

Tammy scoffed. "You're going to catch me?! Doubtful!"

Suddenly, there was a red blur that ran past Tammy. She felt a hand grab her arm, and she punched wildly, hearing a grunt of pain. Her eyes focused again, and she saw red (she officially decided to call him that) holding his stomach. He let go of his grip on her arm, and she knocked him over with a swift kick to the back of his knees.

'Hey, do you need help?' Tammy heard her sister's voice, Tatiana, in her head.

'Yeah.' She thought, knowing Tatiana could hear her.

'Ok, I've located you using my telepathy. Trisha is almost at the corner now. When she turns into it, hide, and when he turns away from her teleport you and her out of there!' Tatiana thought to Tammy.

Just like her two sisters, Tatiana had gained a strange ability the night of the particle accelerator explosion. She had gotten telepathy, which meant she could communicate with her sisters using her thoughts. She could also read minds. Tammy had gotten teleportation, and Trisha had gotten telekinesis.

Just like Tammy was told, Trisha turned the corner into the alley. She was dressed exactly like Tammy (the three sisters always wore the same outfits as each other to trick others).

"Hey! Over here red!" Trisha called out, her voice sounding almost exactly like Tammy's, if not a bit higher.

"I prefer The Flash, thank you!" Red corrected, turning to Trisha.

His eyes flashed in confusion as he saw her, and both sisters knew it was because he didn't understand how she was over there while Tammy was behind him. Tammy hid behind a blue rotting dumpster, plugging her nose and scrunching her face up in disgust.

"What?" He muttered, and Tammy could practically see the gears turning in his head.

The Flash looked back, expecting to see Tammy, but she was nowhere to be found. This was the moment. Tammy teleported next to Trisha, grabbing her arm, and when she was told in her mind where the last triplet was located, she teleported them both away.

___________________

"Barry?" Cisco's voice sounded in Barry's ear through his earpiece.

"Yeah?" Barry responded dazedly, still dumbfounded at the previous events.

"Did you get her?" Cisco asked.

"N-no. But you aren't going to believe what just happened," Barry stuttered.

"Hmm...The Flash, fastest man alive who can run faster than the speed of sound, and stops crime while protecting Central City is telling me that I won't believe something?" Caitlin wondered aloud.

"Very funny."


	2. Lightning and "Intense Observation"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haven't you ever wondered how Felicity and the rest of the arrow team found out about Barry's accident? You know, the one that left him in a coma for 9 months?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have included an OC, his name is Justin. Deal with it...

"Bye Felicity," came Barry Allen's voice over Felicity's phone.

"Bye Barry," she replied.

She hung up the phone smiling, flattered by Barry's comment about if Oliver wasn't the guy for her. She hoped they'd be good friends in the future. Her and Diggle gave Oliver the gift Barry had left for him. It was a dark green mask, made out of micro-compressible fabric. Felicity recalled overhearing Barry talking to Oliver about it when he was drawing blood to test. Oliver had been hallucinating, but it turned out that nothing was wrong with him. Basically, Oliver had been going crazy for a little while.

"How do I look?" Asked Oliver.

"Like a hero," Diggle responded.

Felicity wasted no time afterwards, sitting in front of one of the many computers in the arrow cave (she wasn't supposed to call it that, for Oliver thought it was stupid... But oh well), hacking into the Central City Police Department's security cameras. Yes, she was spying on Barry. But so what? She's a hacker, spying is what she does! She truly had no shame.

She thought back to a conversation her and a high school friend had had one day as they were walking home from school.

FLASHBACK  
"You know that's stalking right?" Her friend, Justin had said.

Felicity, 16 years old with a bob cut and braces, including huge granny glasses, just shook her head.

"It is not! Just because I set up a video camera that streams live feed to my laptop, which I can turn on and off in his bedroom, DOES NOT mean that I'm a stalker!" She'd insisted.

Justin had just rolled eyes. They were talking about Samuel Fanning, their high school football team's quarterback. Felicity had been assigned the task by her math teacher to tutor him, and when she went to his house she had set up a hidden camera on one of the shelves in his room.

Felicity and Justin were both exceptionally smart and nerdy, got straight A's, were extremely good with computers, and neither of their brains really filtered. Which meant they would talk and then realize what they said was super awkward or wrong.

"Well, if it isn't stalking, then what is it hm?" Justin pressed.

"I like to call it intense observation," Felicity mused. Justin scoffed.

"Just because you call one thing something, doesn't make it true," he commented.

"How so?" Felicity asked her friend.

"Well, how many legs does a four legged dog have if you call it's tail a leg?" Justin quizzed.

"Five," she answered. Justin made an annoying buzzing sound with his mouth, imitating pressing a button telling Felicity she'd answered incorrectly.

"Wrong! Just because you call the dog's tail a leg, doesn't make it a leg!" He said triumphantly, stabbing the air with a finger.

"Oh whatever!" She shoved Justin playfully.  
END OF FLASHBACK

And now here she was, doing almost the same thing. After high school, Justin had moved away to some other country. They didn't keep in touch unfortunately. She stared at the monitor, and it showed Barry walking into a lab. He held a tissue to his nose, and she inferred that it must've been bleeding. Worry creased Felicity's brow, as she wondered how that had happened.

Diggle came up behind her and peered at the computer screen. Barry was watching something on his own computer.

"Stalking your new friend are we?" Diggle teased. Felicity slapped his arm playfully.

Barry now was looking at a board, which he had uncovered because it was underneath some map. Diggle sat down next to her, not having anything else to do.

"What do you think that is?" Felicity wondered aloud, not really directing the question to anyone. Diggle shrugged.

As they continued watching the CSI assistant, a comfortable silence enveloped the two. Oliver sat behind them, on one of the metal examination tables. They all watched the computer screen. Whatever was on Barry's computer, a newscast the three had guessed, shut off suddenly. Barry walked over to the computer only to look up outside the window. His eyes widened in shock and fear.

Felicity, Diggle, and Oliver didn't know what had happened, but they saw how something bright had sort of shadowed over Barry's face, made it lighter.

"An explosion," Oliver realized, and told the other two. Worry was slowly building up in the arrow team members' stomachs.

Barry rushed over to a chain that hung down, attached to a skylight. He pulled the chain, and continued to hold onto it as he looked around the lab. Liquid from the beakers on shelves began to float. Disbelief was written over Barry's, Felicity's, Oliver's, and Diggle's face as it did so.

Then, to the three eavesdroppers' terror, lightning crashed through the skylight. It struck Barry's chest, and he flew backwards. Oliver had no reaction besides his eyes widening in horror, Diggle gasped quietly, and Felicity screamed. The security camera in Barry's lab cut out.


	3. Tremor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They say earthquakes are caused by unexplainable shifts in the Earth's mantle. That no one can control them, or know when they're going to happen. But in Central City, that's not always true.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Riley Wood played by Atticus Mitchell, also an OC obviously, and I made up a street.

The CCPD building shook violently for the third time this week. Everyone inside was following the procedure: go under the desks or chairs, cover you head and neck. Papers and pencil holders and computers all were thrown around, along with shelves as they were knocked over and lights that hung down from the ceilings broke off and crashed to the ground. Then suddenly, the shaking came to a halt.

All the people in the building slowly and cautiously came out from their hiding places. That one had been the strongest one yet. It lasted at least 5 minutes. Everyone was upset that their stuff was everywhere, but not nearly as much as Barry. Because of these stupid earthquakes, all of his equipment had been destroyed AGAIN; the first time being when he was struck by lightning and his whole lab had either been drenched with rain, or broken when Barry was slammed into it. And this time around when the seismic activity hit, a shelf had fallen on him. Yeah sure, he had super speed and should've been able to avoid the stupid 30 pound thing, but he had been so fixated on trying to keep what he had been currently working on from being destroyed, Barry didn't even notice the falling hazard.

And unfortunately, super speed wasn't the same thing as super strength. So that meant he couldn't get out from under the rack; he was stuck. Oh, and the icing to the cake? He had been knocked unconscious from the blow AND his work that he'd been trying to save had -despite his attempt to counter the event- been ruined.

Joe ran to Barry's lab as fast as he could, worried that his sort-of-son had been badly injured. Joe found Barry covered in papers that had been thrown astray, and of course, under a huge grey rusting shelf. Eddie was also worried about Iris's best friend, so he'd followed Joe. The men both were filled instantly with horror as their eyes took in the scene, and both immediately went to lift the shelf off of the 25 year old male. Joe held up the shelf using all of his strength as Eddie carefully dragged Barry out from under it by gripping him by the arm pits. Joe dropped the shelf seconds after, panting with his arms limp at his sides.

"Joe, we need to call an ambulance. He could be seriously injured. Might have a broken rib or two," Eddie explained to his partner.

"Yeah, I'll- drive him to the hospital... it'll be fine," Joe replied nervously. He knew that Barry couldn't go to the hospital for 2 reasons:

1.he heals too fast to not be suspected of something  
2.they'd have to draw blood, which means they'd see his rapidly moving cells

Eddie raised an eyebrow in doubt, hands on his hips pushing his jacket back slightly in not a feminine manner, but a pose he's always standing in unconsciously. Eddie really had no say in how Barry got to the hospital, hell, he didn't even know if Joe was really going to drive him there. But that didn't mean he couldn't try and make sure he got appropriate medical attention. Eddie truly did see Barry as somewhat of a friend, not a super close one but certainly more than just a "work buddy" that he exchanges polite hello's with whenever passing by him in the halls. Joe stared back at him with a poker face, although there was a shining in eyes. Worry, fear, determination. Eddie sighed in defeat.

"I'll help you get him to your car," he said reluctantly. Joe smiled thankfully.

The two men lifted Barry, one at his arms and other at his legs. They used the elevator to get down to the main floor, and quickly but cautiously got Barry to Joe's car. They laid him down in the back seat. Joe thanked Eddie, who replied with a nod. He took one last wary look at the unconscious body of the forensics assistant before going back inside. Joe slammed on the gas with his police sirens blaring as he sped to S.T.A.R Labs.

~~~~~~~~~~

Joe and Captain Singh decided that Barry couldn't work in his lab anymore. They'd be replacing all of his equipment and transferring him into a different room. But for now, he'd be taking a vacation. The CCPD were going to get help from another CSI in Keystone. Barry was... more than unsupportive of the whole situation. But nonetheless, he followed orders to steer clear of the CCPD for the next two weeks.

When Barry had woken up two hours after the shelf incident, he was lying on a hospital bed in S.T.A.R Labs with an IV in his arm. He had a few wires attached to his bare chest, and was in sweat pants.

"Four broken ribs, a concussion, and you were this close to having a punctured lung!" Caitlin screeched the moment she saw Barry's eyes open.

"And you weren't even using your powers. Dude, that's like, a record," Cisco joked. Caitlin and Barry laughed, but the female scientist did so without humor.

"Speaking of not using your powers," Dr. Wells drawled as he wheeled into the room. "Why weren't you? You easily could have dodged the rack,"

"Thank god everything had been shaken off of it before it came crashing down on you, Barry! If there had been chemicals on it, your injuries could have been ten times worse!" Caitlin continued, her voice reaching an impossibly high pitch.

Barry sighed. "I wasn't paying attention. Trying to save my research," Barry explained to them all.

"Stupid! Reckless! Idiotic!" Caitlin berated.

"Whoa, calm down. Your face is turning blue," Cisco warned Dr. Snow.

Caitlin took a deep breath, counted to ten in her mind, then proceeded to leave the room since it really wasn't working.

Barry healed -of course- in about two or three hours. Thankfully too, because there was currently a shoot out on Ellen St.. Barry got changed into his suit, and sped off to the location of the danger. He got there just in time too. For one of the two men had just shot. The other man would be dead if Barry hadn't sped him away. Barry looked at the one who had shot the gun. He was the only one armed, the other man was probably an innocent pedestrian. But, that could be totally off.

The boy wasn't older than maybe twenty, maybe. He had light brown eyes and brunette hair, pale white skin and a scar on his left eyebrow that reached the corner of his mouth. He wore a black jacket with a white hood and a dark turquoise t-shirt underneath, along with ripped black jeans. His shoes were white, well they used to be. Now they were covered in mud and dirt.

"Any reason you're trying to murder this guy over here?" Barry asked, gesturing to the one he'd just saved. He, in turn, ran away in fear.

The boy smirked, and dropped his arms so that the gun hung loosely at his side. He leaned back on his heels, running his free hand through his hair.

"You see Mr. Scarlett man-who-runs-faster-than-the-blink-of-an-eye, there is a perfectly valid explanation for that. However, it is none of your business. Let's just say, he was bothering me with his cheeriness as he walked by," the boy replied slyly, his voice smooth and filled with confidence, along with trouble.

"Really?" Barry said, raising an eyebrow.

"Truly," the boy said. "Now if you'll excuse me," he began to walk off, but Barry sped over to him and grabbed his shoulder. He spun the young man around.

The boy had fury in his eyes, and he instantly shot out. Barry dodged the bullets easily. He kicked the gun out of the kid's hand, and it clattered to the floor. He grabbed his arms, forcing them behind his back and was about to run him to the police station when the boy did something completely unexpected. He laughed. A whole-hearted, not even remotely sarcastic, cheery laugh. Barry was more than just a little confused.

"The gun wasn't my only weapon man," he preened. Barry then using super speed searched the boy for any more weapons, but couldn't find anything.

"What are you talking about?" Barry asked. The boy laughed again, and kicked backwards.

Barry was forced to release the other's arms, and was then punched in the face. Barry punched back, causing the boy's lip to bleed. He flipped the boy over, well tried to. Instead of succeeding, the role was reversed when the other grabbed the elbow Barry reached out with, bending it out wards so he could get a better grip. Barry hit the ground, hard.

As disoriented as he was, he was able to focus on what the boy did next. He glared at the ground underneath them both, extending his hands outward as if he was reaching for something. He slowly clenched his fists, and the ground began to shake. But the strangest part was, only the street they were currently on was shaking. This young boy, who was not only strong but clever too, could create earthquakes. That was why there were so many happening lately!

Barry leaned against a wall and tried hard not to be tossed around, while the ground around the other brunette didn't even move. 'Great' Barry thought. 'Another Metahuman. Just perfect!' The earthquake stopped 30 seconds later, and Barry could hear the cries of distress coming from pedestrians in the need of medical attention.

"Looks like you'll be busy saving the citizens of Central City instead of catching me today...Flash," the boy winked, and ran off as Barry dragged himself up and went to help the ones injured by the short but deadly quake.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Another Metahuman?" Joe groaned. Barry nodded grimly.

"One that can cause shifts in the tectonic plates it seems," Harrison added.

Caitlin was rigid in thought, but finally said, "This Meta won't be able to be contained in a cell, you realize that right?" Everyone was scowling deeply, besides Cisco who, despite the harsh reality, was smiling from ear to ear.

"Tremor!" He shouted. The other four people in the room looked at him with confusion and curiosity.

"That's his nickname," Cisco said as if it was obvious. Everyone rolled their eyes, but couldn't help the slight smiles at the corner of their mouths at Cisco's childishness.

"And, since you got blood on my suit... again, we have the guy's DNA," Cisco continued.

He clicked a few buttons on the computer and the new metahuman's face appeared on the big screen. Joe, Harrison, Barry, Caitlin, and Cisco all looked up at it.

"Riley Wood. Age 19, just graduated high school, and he went missing one month after the particle accelerator explosion," Caitlin explained.

"Is there any reason why he would have the power to cause earthquakes?" Joe asked.

"Yes, there is actually. I did some research, and it seems that Riley here had an interest with Earth Science. Particularly tectonic plate movement," Cisco replied.

"Seems like a smart kid," Joe commented.

"Then why did he become a gun wielding psychopath that wants to destroy the city by causing natural disasters?" Barry wondered out loud. Nobody had an answer.

"What's weirdest, is that out of all the earthquakes that happened this week, they've never reached S.T.A.R Labs," Caitlin pointed out.

"Perhaps he's waiting..." Dr. Wells offered.

"For what?" Asked Barry. Just then, the entire lab began to shake ferociously.

Everyone held onto something, and Cisco noticed a face on the security cameras.

"It's Wood!" Cisco called. "On the roof!"

Barry got his suit on in seconds, and sped up to the roof of S.T.A.R Labs.

When he got there, he saw Riley glaring down at the ground that surrounded the building. He was clenching his fists like he had done before. Barry ran up to him and tackled the boy.

"What do you have against Central City? Against S.T.A.R Labs?!" Barry demanded when they both stood up. The quaking had stopped.

Riley, just like last time, laughed. Barry really didn't understand what was so funny. Riley didn't have a gun this time, but Barry knew that he could fight.

"Ten months ago, I had everything, EVERYTHING, taken away from me," Riley began.

"I had just graduated, had a scholarship for college, friends, a happy family. But then, the particle accelerator happened. My family and friends were at my house. We were watching the newscast waiting eagerly for the machine to be switched on. You see, we were all quite nerds when it came to science," Riley had a distant look in his eyes, as if he was recalling a happy memory. Barry knew where this was going, and his stomach began to fill with dread.

"But then, it all went wrong. We saw it outside our window when the tv shut off. We were... too stupidly mesmerized at the pretty light show, that we didn't realize what was going on. And when we did, it was too late," Riley's voice became a growl, filled with vengeance and hatred. "Do you want to know what happened next, Mr. Speed? To my house, my family, my friends? They blew up! The house exploded and they all burned to death in an instant!" Riley attacked Barry, and the fight began.

Riley swung, but Barry dodged. "I was in the hospital for weeks! Critical condition because of my burns. I healed somehow. But everyone else? Not so lucky!" Riley did a high kick, and his foot landed on Barry's chest, sending him backwards. Barry got up quickly, grabbing Riley by the throat and slamming him into a power box.

"So I ran away. Became a missing person. I found out what I could do, and decided to avenge them! And I wanted to save S.T.A.R Labs for last," Riley continued.

"Look, I'm sorry for your loss, but you need to realize that your family and friends wouldn't want to be avenged. Not like this! They were killed in a freak accident. And you're doing the same with these earthquakes! You need to stop, Riley!" Barry tried to explain.

Riley slumped suddenly, he looked up at Barry with sad eyes. "You're right. I screwed up. I'm so, so sorry," Barry released Riley, mentally proud of himself for convincing the boy to stop.

"But there's one more thing I have to do," Riley murmured. Barry's guard was down, so Riley landed a right-hook easily to his face.

Barry was in a daze, too confused to get up. Riley got a knife from his back pocket, and was about to stab Barry when: BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three shots were fired into Riley's chest. Barry looked over, and saw Joe holding up his gun. Riley stumbled backwards, and the last thing Barry saw before it all went black, was the teenager tumbling off the side of the roof.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Riley Wood died at age 19, three shots to the chest and fell off a roof of a tall building. Whether he died from the bullets or the impact, nobody knows. Joe West, Central City's Police Department's head detective shot him in self defense. He was pleaded not guilty and was set free with no charge.'

That's what the file said. One month later, and Barry still couldn't get the vision of the boy tumbling off of the roof helplessly out of his head. He was back at work, but in a different lab. It looked remotely the same though. He gripped the folder tightly in his hands, paying no attention to his best friend's words.

"Barry," Iris put a hand on his shoulder soothingly, and Barry looked up at her.

"It wasn't your fault. The kid had a weapon on you. Dad did what he had to," Iris didn't know the full story. No one except himself, Joe, and the members of S.T.A.R Labs truly did. All they knew was that Wood had pulled a knife on Barry, and Joe happened to be there.

"But that's just it, Iris. He was just a kid. They didn't even have a funeral for him you know? He's still in the morgue even though they know who he is, but his family is dead so no one can go get him," Barry responded sadly.

Iris smiled in sympathy. "I know. But he stopped being a kid when he graduated technically. And I know that you love specifics so that should make it better, right?" Iris tried, hugging Barry from behind as he sat in his chair. Barry shrugged.

"I guess," he sighed. Iris smiled brightly.

"Good enough for me! C'mon, let's go catch a movie," she said, dragging Barry away, leaving Riley Wood's folder on his desk.


	4. No One Knows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No one understands the strange mind of one Taylor Ward, a by-choice mute young woman who gains special abilities after the particle accelerator explosion. Except maybe Caitlin Snow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Claire Holt plays my OC Taylor Ward. There isn't much Barry Allen in this chapter, and this chapter is quite moody or deep I guess? It's not a sort of theme that I will do often I don't think, but who knows? REMEMBER: I take prompts so feel free to comment ideas!

No one actually knows when the last day of their normal life will be. Before an event that alters it all. No one knows that in the future, they'd refer to that moment as 'before it all changed'. That's because at the time, before the exact moment it all did in fact change, it feels just like a normal day. No one knows what's about to happen. No one knew the particle accelerator was going to explode. 17 people didn't know they were going to die that night. Taylor Ward didn't know what she was going to become.

FLASHBACK  
The night of the explosion had just been another lonely night for Taylor. She was sitting at her tiny round kitchen table, drinking tea and working on a maze in her activities book. Taylor enjoyed puzzles. Mazes, word searches, crosswords, actual regular puzzles, all of that. She was 27, wasn't in a relationship, and was employed at a school library (which didn't exactly pay well, causing her to have several bills to take care of). She didn't have family who lived near the city, and was an only child that always moved because of her father being in the military. She didn't have many friends growing up, and that was because she knew that they'd either ditch her or she would never see them again once she moved away.

Taylor had to grow up pretty quickly, and she had built walls up to prevent anyone from seeing her true feelings so they couldn't cause her pain. She sighed as she got stuck in the maze again. Her mind swam in drowsiness, and the activity in front of her blurred together. Taylor was dead tired, but couldn't fall asleep for some odd reason. It was lightly raining outside, not pouring but not sprinkling either. And she had been up since 3am for some obscure reason she couldn't remember at the moment.

Taylor decided to cheat on the maze, running her blue pen through the lines that created the twists and turns, straight to the middle. She really didn't care. And she wished that her life was that easy. Cutting corners without consequence, getting things over with. Passing through without worrying about it backfiring and being slapped in the face because of it. Taylor yawned, pushing the activity book away. She picked up her mug of tea, and switched the small kitchen's light off. She still didn't want to go to sleep, so she decided to sit outside and watch the rain. She sat in one of the two patio chairs she had out there, leaning back and observing the stars. She searched for constellations, but found none. Rain water lightly hit her from time to time, soon soaking her pajamas. Again, she didn't really care.

Five minutes later, she heard an unmistakeable sound that she'd been trained to recognize by her soldier father. An explosion.Taylor acted fast, shooting out of her chair and ducking for cover. Though as fast as she was, somehow, she wasn't fast enough. For in a fraction of a second after she had stood up from her chair, lightning crashed into her somehow. She was on the top floor of her apartment building so it made some kind of sense, but not much. She flew through her glass door, twitching from the electricity. The last thing she thought of was the maze she'd cheated at, and how she wished that passing through the walls in the maze could be real.  
END OF FLASHBACK

She'd woken up in a hospital room two weeks later from a medical induced coma because of the slight burns she'd suffered. There were scars on her hands up to her elbows, bright purple and red, from smashing into the glass doors that separated the patio from the inside of her apartment. Her mom was there, tears in her eyes. Taylor's dad had died when the helicopter he was in was shot down. She was allowed to go back to her apartment a few hours later.

Her mom gave her a pair of black leather gloves that reached up to her elbows, knowing that her daughter wouldn't want anyone seeing her new scars. The apartment had been cleaned up free of charge, since it was an accident that the place had been messed up in the first place. Taylor hadn't spoken a word since she woke up, and had no facial expressions. Just a blank stare straight ahead.

Taylor was left alone in her apartment soon after she got there, although her mother had been reluctant to do so. She'd lost her husband already, and almost lost her daughter. Could anyone really blame the woman for wanting to be around her family? Unfortunately, Taylor wanted the exact opposite. So her mother complied. Taylor slid on the gloves the moment her apartment door closed, sighing in relief when she could no longer see the part of herself that would always remind her of what happened. Then, plopping down in a kitchen chair, she covered her face and cried.

Downright sobbing was the actual way to put it. Her entire body racked with tears, shaking in rhythm of the pitiful sounds escaping her mouth. She didn't know why she was crying, but really didn't feel like attempting at stopping herself. Taylor cried for only God knows how long, before she was finally dehydrated and decided to get something to drink. She went to open the door of the refrigerator to grab a bottle of water, but her hand passed right through the handle.

That's right. Went through the handle. As in, her hand didn't touch the bar, but simply made contact with nothing as if she was swatting air. Taylor's eyes widened in shock, before she shook her head. She had to be seeing things! She concluded that, even though she had been in a two week coma, the crying had done number on her. She was just tired.... that's all. So, she walked to her bedroom and lied down on the bed to rest. She was welcomed by a dreamless, peaceful sleep.

~~~~~~~

Taylor was awoken when her backside slammed into something hard. Her eyes snapped open, and only saw wood above her. Turning her head to the side, she saw the bottom legs of her dresser from a short distance away. She realized that she was under her bed. But how? Why? Taylor didn't sleep walk. Never in her guarded, somewhat unfeeling life had she ever even accidentally rolled off the couch that she had fallen asleep on! There was only one explanation to the reason why she was under her bed. She had fallen through it.

~~~~~~~

10 months after the particle accelerator explosion, Taylor had gotten the hang of her newly discovered power. She could pass through any object, even walls. It was a bitter joke really, cheating at a maze and being struck by lightning caused this to happen to her. She still hadn't said a word since she woke up, becoming mute by choice for the only reason was that she had nothing to say. Well, of course she could've joined some conversation with the students at the library she still worked at, or gone out to a restaurant or get coffee so she actually would have to tell the waiter her order, but she didn't. And Taylor didn't really mind.

She never left her apartment without wearing her black leather gloves, they gave her a sense of comfort that no one could see the part of her that contrasted from her "gorgeous features" as many people would compliment her. It reminded her of that Disney ice queen movie she had seen with her mother about two years back. One night, Taylor decided to take a walk around the city to clear her raging mind. Although her only expression was a perfectly calm poker face that everyone saw, her brain was full of worries and fears and questions.

How does lightning cause such powers? What will she do when there's another storm? What if her abilities act out in public? Was The Flash affected by the lighting also? Was that why he could run so fast? Oh yes, The Flash. She was always curious about him after he started saving people from danger around the city. She'd witnessed some weird stuff lately, after that terrible night. Unexplained storms, that one judge dying from apparent asphyxiation, and of course, the red blur.

She had single handedly experienced him saving her from a fire, when some pesky high schoolers had dropped a lighter on a wooden shelf in the library. She didn't see much, just a blurred mask as she was carried out of that part of the school at impossible speed. It was exhilarating, and over in seconds. She remembered him setting her down on a bench, looking her over for any injuries, then rushing off without even letting her say thank you. That was the only time she'd even thought about speaking since before the accident.

So now, as she walked through the chilly January night, with a trench coat draped tightly around her thin frame, of course that's what she allowed her mind to fill with. The memory of the man in red. She wasn't obsessed with him -not like that Iris woman and her silly blog- just curious. She looked up, staring at the bright moon that was full. Taylor didn't need words to describe how she felt at that moment (not like she'd speak them anyways), she already knew that the lightness in her shoulders meant she was at peace. She sighed contently, but the moment was ruined when she collided with a body.

"Oof!" Came out of the other person's mouth. Taylor focused on the one she had bumped into, and saw a red headed woman about her age standing in front of her.

"I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!" The woman apologized. Taylor smiled in gesture of her accepting the apology.

"Out for a walk to clear your head?" The pedestrian asked. Taylor nodded, her face going back to expressionless.

"Mind if I walk with you? I have not much to do otherwise," Taylor was kind of against the idea, but shrugged and continued to walk.

"I'm Caitlin," the woman introduced. Taylor wanted to reply with her own name, but at the same time she didn't.

"And I'm guessing you don't speak. Like, at all," Caitlin commented. Taylor lightly chuckled.

"Have you always been silent?" Caitlin asked Taylor, who shook her head.

"Then let me guess what caused you to become mute. Particle accelerator explosion?"

Taylor's jaw dropped. Her eyes widened in shock.

Caitlin smiled triumphantly. "I'll take that as a yes. I'm guessing you're curious on how I could've known?" Taylor nodded, in time with a shrug.  
"Well, scientists theorize that trauma can cause someone to go through a series of reactions. Including the cease of verbal expression. And that night was pretty traumatic. Almost everyone lost something. Someone," Caitlin looked at her feet.

Taylor looked at Caitlin with a curious expression on her face.

"I lost my fiancé, Ronnie," Caitlin answered.

Taylor's eyes softened in pity. She realized that Caitlin probably didn't want anyone's pity, but she couldn't not feel some sorrow for the woman.

"Did you lose anyone?" Caitlin asked. Taylor shook her head no.

"Did something bad happen to you?" At this, Taylor nodded. Caitlin's eyes filled with a some sort of emotion, curiosity or just lost in thought maybe, but it was gone in an instant.

"A friend of mine was struck by lightning. Coma for 9 months. Lots of people were struck actually that night. Were you?" Caitlin continued, and Taylor again nodded. That same fog passed over Caitlin's eyes again, and just like before it was gone faster than it came.

"Well, I'll just let you know, that I don't think it's the end of the world. I mean, I have no idea how the lightning affected you, but I just want to give you a tip: it will get better. Even if you don't believe it just yet," A small smile crossed Taylor's lips.

The two somewhat strangers continued to walk side by side a little while longer. Caitlin looked at her watch about 10 minutes later, frowning slightly.

"I should be going. I'm really sorry," she started. Taylor nodded in understanding. Caitlin smiled in thanks.

"Maybe I will see you around one day? I hope so!" Caitlin waved as she walked off, Taylor returning the gesture.

No one actually knows when the last day of their normal life will be. Before an event that alters it all. No one knows that in the future, they'd refer to that moment as 'before it all changed'. That's because at the time, before the exact moment it all did in fact change, it feels just like a normal day. No one knows what's about to happen. No one knows how Taylor felt after the particle accelerator explosion. No one understands what goes on in her mind now. Well, except maybe Caitlin Snow.


	5. Two Can Keep a Secret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One conversation between Harrison Wells and Hartley Rathaway takes a dangerous turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Character death (whether it's major or not is up to the reader)  
> This is based off of episode 11 of season 1 of the flash, "The Sound and the Fury".  
> I take prompts, and would love feedback. So feel free to comment!

Harrison was the only one left in S.T.A.R. Labs. It was 11pm, and everyone else had gone home. But he was still there, silent as he watched at full attention, looking at the security cameras in the cell of the newest member in the pipeline. Hartley Rathaway. Hartley sat in one corner, leaning against the wall. He had bandages wrapped around his hands, and glasses resting on top of his head; his eyes were closed. Yet, Harrison knew Hartley wasn't asleep.

No, Hartley wasn't asleep at all. He wasn't even dozing off, much less trying to get any rest. He was listening. Hartley had always been observant. Even when everyone thought he was focused on one thing or another, he would have a part of his attention reserved for something else. Sound. Footsteps coming closer or moving farther away, the inhales and exhales of people surrounding him, even the whispers behind his back that had nothing to do with him. Hartley Rathaway never let his guard down...ever. And this moment wasn't an exception.

Harrison replayed the words of Hartley from the previous few days:

"Smart enough to have figured out who Harrison Wells really is."

"You see, I know his secret."

"I almost forgot. I told your pet I know your deep dark secret Harrison."

"We both know what you did."

 

Yes, Harrison did indeed have a secret. Many of them, actually. One of which, was the fact that he had been warned by Hartley himself that the particle accelerator might explode. He had told everyone that secret, yet Hartley hadn't been satisfied. He didn't forgive Harrison, he didn't let up. That was because, and Harrison knew this for a fact, that Hartley knew something else. But what was it?

Hartley's eyes suddenly opened, and there was no emotion in his dark pupils. He stared up at the camera, and Harrison shifted under the younger male's indirect gaze. Hartley put his glasses back on his face, his mouth a thin line.

"I know you're there Harrison. You want something," Hartley called out in monotone.

It was true, as always Hartley was right. Harrison did indeed want something. But he still sat there, just watching Hartley through the camera.

"Well? Out with it!" Hartley sighed exasperatedly. Harrison gave up, and made his way to the pipeline.

He entered the prison-like-area, which no longer had a door because Hartley had blown it up. Hartley was standing tall, arms crossed and a smug look on his face. Hartley always basked in his genius. He had known Harrison was watching him by pure instinct, and wasn't afraid to take credit for it. The two just stared at each other for a moment, until Harrison broke the silence.

"I told everyone about the warning you gave me about the particle accelerator exploding. But something tells me that what I shared with the public wasn't the secret you were talking about,"

Hartley chuckled shortly. He looked down at the ground for a moment, before gazing back at Harrison with a newfound look in his eyes.

"You're right. That wasn't at all what I was talking about. Yes, I might've warned you. And yes, you might have turned the other cheek. However," Hartley stepped close to the locked glass door of the cell.

"There's something else entirely. Something not even I can understand why you would lie about. What's the point?" Hartley asked.

"The point of what?" Harrison replied, not enjoying this guessing game.

"Why the wheel chair? I know you aren't paralyzed Harrison," Hartley said.

Harrison's facial expression didn't change. But on the inside, he was a raging mess. How had Hartley found out? What was he going to do with this information?

"You see Wells, I only found out about your fake paralysis a few days ago when I visited you. When this all started. I was looking through the windows. You had entered your house using the chair, but to my surprise, little wounded Dr. Wells stood up!" Hartley feigned shock.

"It's a miracle! Call the press, we have a scientific breakthrough! Harrison Wells can walk again!" He taunted.

"And I'm supposing you want a reason as to why I choose to fake my inability to use my legs?" Harrison asked.

"Now you're getting it," Hartley responded sarcastically.

"Well, that's a conversation for another time Hartley. Let me ask you this though, what do you plan to do with this knowledge?" Harrison inquired. Hartley simply shrugged.

"Well, then I suppose that since you won't tell me now, it will always remain a mystery," Harrison said, clicking a few buttons on the screen attached to his mechanical wheelchair.

Hartley's brow furrowed, and suddenly he was worried. He himself didn't know why, but he knew something bad was about to happen.

"Harrison....what are you doing?"

"I'm cutting off the air supply to your cell Hartley," Harrison responded immediately, with no guilt or emotion in his voice.

As he said this, it suddenly became hard to breathe for Hartley. He took in deep breaths, which soon became gasps, which soon became fits of coughs.

"Har-" cough. "Harrison. Don't you think this is-" more coughing. "Taking things a bit too far?" Hartley broke into a series of gasps and coughs, grasping his throat desperately.

"Not at all Hartley. You see, the reason I fake paralysis, is for a mission that I'm on. I've been on it for a while now, and don't need you screwing it up by telling everybody," Harrison replied, unaffected by the lack of oxygen since it was only in Hartley's cell.

"I won't-" Hartley gasped. "I won't tell anybody! I swear!" He backed up into the farthest wall of the small cell, sliding to the floor as his body began to shut down.

"I wish I could take your word Hartley, I really do. However, a secret so big needs to be kept hidden. I cannot take any risks,"

Hartley's arms dropped to his sides, and he stopped coughing. He was just gasping now, struggling to keep his eyes open. He knew that Harrison was bad news, that he had more secrets than anyone knew. But he never thought that the man would murder someone because of them.

"Har-Harrison.....please..."

"I'm truly sorry Hartley. I wish things didn't have to be this way," and with that, Hartley's eyes closed. He stopped gasping, stopped moving all together. He stopped breathing.

Harrison kept the air supply from entering Hartley's cell for a few more minutes, making sure that the man was dead. Harrison really didn't want to kill Hartley, but what other choice did he have? Secrets were not meant to be shared, nor were they supposed to be known by anyone other than the one with that secret. And Hartley Rathaway wasn't an exception.

Harrison set the oxygen levels back to normal, and took one glance back at the now lifeless body of Hartley. He rolled out of the pipeline, deleting the camera footage that showed their conversation ever taking place as he went.

You know what they say. Two can keep a secret, if you get rid of one.


	6. Conflicted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Iris West was scared of lots of things. However, what she was most afraid of, was herself.

Iris didn't understand what was going on. What were these feelings she felt when thinking about the Flash? She was still kind of upset at him for attacking her boyfriend, even though Eddie had forgiven the speedster, and wanted to forgive him too. But she couldn't.

She stopped in front of Jitters, her old workplace, and recalled writing most of her articles about the Flash at the coffee shop late at night. She remembered the way she would press send, then about 3 seconds later she would be whisked away to the roof to have a conversation with the masked superhero of Central City. She missed that sure, but she didn't miss the frustration of it.

She found it funny most times when the Flash would tease her, make her think. Make her ask questions they both knew would probably never be answered. But sometimes, she sort of just wanted to punch him in the face. Instead of asking questions, she would just want to demand answers. She would want to threaten him that she would post their rooftop conversations on her blog or something, just because she wanted to have a real honest talk. Like the talks she would have with Barry! Times like those, where she would get so frustrated and angry, scared the living day lights out of her. Because Iris wasn't viscous. She wasn't violent and abrasive, nor was she over controlling. But that small part of her -that teeny tiny little piece of her mind that wanted to do all of those things because she wanted answers so badly- it was. Iris's breath caught in her throat, and she suddenly realized what she had to do. She had to call the Flash.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Using her spare key, Iris unlocked the doors to the coffee shop. She sat on one of the stools, waiting for the city's superhero to come and get her. She'd contacted Flash by using the private messaging thing on her blog that she used to message The Flash about Tony Woodward. She knew how this would happen, she'd be sped up to the roof, and he would be there. He would disguise his voice, run around every few minutes, and if he ever got close enough for her to see his face, he would vibrate it. And he would be mysterious, flirty. And Iris really was NOT in the mood for flirtatious gestures tonight.

Just like she thought, the Flash came and took her to the roof. He stood right behind her; she could feel his warm breath on her neck.

"You called?" He said flirtatiously in his disguised voice. She could tell he was smirking.

Iris didn't know what came over her. But suddenly, before she could even comprehend what was happening, Iris spun around and punched Flash right in the jaw. Not even he was fast enough to avoid it. The Flash stumbled back, holding his jaw with one hand, staring at Iris with the utmost of shocked expressions.

He couldn't even ask Iris why she had done that before she grabbed him by the shoulders, and kissed him. He didn't kiss back, too frozen in surprise to understand what was happening. She pulled back seconds later, seemingly satisfied. Iris didn't try to pull away his mask. She didn't ask any questions or demand answers. She just walked back inside, making her way outside of Jitters on the ground.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Iris was no longer conflicted, nor was she scared that she would one day snap and attack The Flash. Her little outburst seemed to do the trick. She had now forgiven him, and was happy to write what she could about him.

As she left to go to Eddie's apartment that night, she didn't notice the beyond shocked Scarlett Speedster just standing there, still frozen on the roof. She didn't notice Barry Allen carefully avoiding her the next two days either.


	7. Freak Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt from todd_casil: can you do one with cisco getting caught in the blast along with Barry and ends up with powers? Telekinesis if that's okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this isn't what you wanted. However, I did give Cisco telekinesis.

Cisco didn't know what to do. Ronnie was back. Ronnie and Barry had just saved Martin Stein from General Wade Eyeling's evil plans. Ronnie and Martin have learned how to control their merging as Firestorm. Everything was perfect and happy. So should he ruin the moment by telling them all this kinda-sorta-really important fact?

What if they hated him for it? Or, what if they thought he was evil and put him in the pipeline! What if he actually did become evil? These thoughts plaguing Cisco's mind were killing him. There was no one he could talk to about it!

It was all so sudden! How it hadn't developed until more than a year later, he didn't know. All Cisco did know, was that he had powers.

It wasn't like they were dangerous or anything. At least, not if he could control them. He wasn't struck by lightning or anything, so how had this even happened? And aren't metahuman powers supposed to correlate with something from before or during the particle accelerator explosion, thus causing that person to gain such ability? So how in all of time and space and particle accelerator failures had Cisco Ramon gained the power of telekinesis?!

Was it because he was clumsy? Had his history of dropping objects and nearly smashing into poles been reason enough to be affected? He supposed so. Cisco had only known about this for about a week too.

FLASHBACK  
Cisco first found out about his newfound talent while at his apartment one morning, before he headed off to S.T.A.R. Labs for the day. He was brushing his teeth in front of his mirror, thinking about how many more suits he might need to make for Barry and how to make them more difficult to destroy. He was quite surprised/horrified that Barry had managed to get almost all of his Flash suits either melted or blown up, and how he had managed to do it in such little time. But, Cisco supposed that's why he was called the Flash right?

While in thought, Cisco's eyes had begun to stare off into space, unfocused and unblinking. So, when his cell phone suddenly began blaring right next to him, disturbing the almost-silence and the blank staring, it was pretty obvious what happened next. Cisco freaked. He jumped, may or may not have squealed like a girl, dropping his toothbrush and practically falling over. All happened as expected, right? Wrong.

One thing was totally different. One thing scared Cisco more than his phone going off so suddenly. And that one thing happened to be his toothbrush floating in midair.

He was confused on what was happening, and when he went to grab the floating object it flew forwards, smacking into the mirror, falling uselessly into the sink. That was when Cisco realized, he had telekinesis.  
END OF FLASHBACK 

Now here he was, sitting at his desk in S.T.A.R. Labs, contemplating what to do. Ronnie and Martin had left the day before, something about visiting a scientist that could explain something to them? He couldn't remember and had no will to at the moment.

Cisco hadn't had a random power outburst since that first time, but he may or may not have been using his powers to help him around at times when he was alone for no one to see. Mostly with cleaning and such. Because, who could deny the fact that using superpowers for less cleaning was pretty awesome.

As he stared off into space, Barry walked in, about to ask Cisco what was the situation with his suit. But then he saw how sad Cisco looked.

"Cisco?" He asked. No response.

Barry smirked, walking up behind Cisco slowly. He grabbed his shoulders and shouted in his ear.

Cisco reacted accordingly, he screamed and fell over out of his chair. However, once again, his telekinesis freaked out.

As Cisco fell, he reached his hands out to catch himself. Instead though, everything on his desk flew into the air and stood there as Cisco fell over. Barry stared at the floating objects in shock. Cisco's keyboard, mouse, pencil holder, and several papers were just standing there, hovering in the air.

Cisco slowly got up, and he noticed his slip up.

"Crap," he muttered, slowly guiding the objects back onto his desk.

Barry turned to Cisco, his mouth open and eyes wide.

"Y-you- and then- what?" Barry stuttered.

Cisco smiled sheepishly. "Surprise! I have powers too!" He said gingerly.

Barry stared in silent shock for a few more moments, before turning on his heel and walking right out. Cisco's cautious smile dropped, and he ran a hand down his face with a groan.

"I'm so screwed,"


	8. Seeing is Believing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hartley Rathaway is back. Team Flash is skeptic on how they are going to catch him this time, for the third time in less than 5 months. Luckily, they have a new addition to the team to help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1.There is an OC in this chapter, I imagine him to look like Dylan O'Brien  
> 2\. Omg that last Flash episode though  
> 3\. I take prompts, and as long as there is SOMETHING Flash fandom included in the prompt, I will most likely write it. Crossover prompts included  
> 4\. Following through on prompts will take quite a while. Please be patient.

He should have been doubled over, screaming in agony. He should've been coughing up blood. These are the things that happen when Hartley Rathaway tries to FREAKING KILL YOU using his weird glove frequency things.

However, Connor Owens wasn't exactly normal. He was a metahuman, with the ability to control the 5 senses of anyone and everyone, including himself. And currently, he was preventing his sense of hearing for this special mission.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

(A few hours earlier)  
Barry Allen raced through Central City, wearing his Flash suit. It was Saturday, 10 am, and his day off. But of course, when do superheroes get days off?

"Guys! I'm coming up on the street now! What next?" He asked into his intercom, speaking to Caitlin Snow and Cisco Ramon.

"Turn left at the first alley, that's where they are," Cisco replied.

Barry did as he was told, skidding to a stop as he locked sights onto his target. To his surprise, he was staring straight at a kid. No joke, the boy couldn't be even 18! He had dark brown hair, pale yet still tan skin, he wasn't too tall, and his brown eyes were full of fear. Barry questioned his original thoughts. Was this kid really capable of robbing banks?

"W-what do you want?" The boy stuttered.

"People aren't supposed to rob banks kid," Barry replied confidentially, hiding his doubt.

"I didn't rob any bank!" He shouted frantically.

"Really now? Because you were at the scene, fleeing like....not even ten minutes ago," Barry said, looking at his wrist as if to check a watch.

"I'd have to say, what I heard was that your eyes turned black and, it wasn't too normal,"

"I was chasing after the bad guy. I was trying to slow him down! He got away though," the boy responded, looking down at his feet in disappointment.

Barry took this opportunity to grab the kid, taking him by the shoulders and speeding off to S.T.A.R Labs. When they got there, Barry had already snapped handcuffs on the kid, holding his jacket sleeve. The kid looked even more terrified now as he stood there barely on his feet, his eyes darting around.

"You got him!" Cisco cheered.

"Let's get him into the pipeline first, then we'll talk to him," Caitlin suggested.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

The boy now stood in a cell in the pipeline, no longer wearing handcuffs. He pressed his hands on the glass, as if he was trying to push it outwards.

"What's your name?" Barry asked, still in his flash outfit.

"Connor Owens," the boy replied immediately.

"How old are you?"

"16," Caitlin, Cisco, and Barry looked at each other skeptically. Why would a 16 year old kid need to rob a bank?

"Why were you robbing a bank?" Cisco asked.

"I wasn't!" Connor huffed.

"We saw the video of you at the bank. You ran after a guy in a mask, who happened to have a bag full of thousands of dollars. He was your partner I presume?" Caitlin said.

"He was the bad guy! I was chasing after him to stop him! I'm not a criminal!" Connor explained, throwing his hands wildly around in air.

"Stopping bad guys are for the police," Barry said.

"Is that why you stop them instead, Flash?" Connor countered.

"Listen, I have a foster family to get back to," Connor paused. "On second thought, never mind. If they are to notice my absence, why not scare the crap out of 'em?"

Cisco smirked and whispered to Caitlin, "I like this kid,"

"You're not normal, are you?" Barry asked, to which Connor shook his head.

"Not by a long shot. And by what has been proven obvious already on many occasions, neither are you," he replied.

"What can you do?" Caitlin asked wearily.

Connor sighed, looking over to Cisco who was leaning forwards eagerly, a child-like smile on his face. Connor's eyes went entirely black, and Cisco's eyes dilated, and he screamed in shock and fear. "What, what's wrong?!" Barry asked frantically.

"I can't see!" Cisco exclaimed. Connor's eyes then returned to normal, and Cisco calmed down.

"Never mind, all good. That was so sick!" Cisco exclaimed. "Being able to control people's senses. That's even cooler than super speed! No offense," Cisco patted Barry's shoulder.

"What?" Barry trailed off.

"Can you let me go now?" Connor requested.

"Not yet," sounded the voice of Dr. Wells from behind.

Everyone turned, save for Connor who was already able to see Harrison Wells rolling into the pipeline to join the group. Caitlin still looked weary, Barry looked confused at Harrison's statement, and Cisco looked like an excited child.

"Why not?" Barry asked.

"I have a question for him, and a proposition," Dr. Wells replied. Connor looked at him expectantly.

"What gave you the idea that chasing after the bank robber was a smart idea?" Harrison asked.

"I don't know.....an adrenaline rush maybe? My real dad used to work at that bank, so I thought that I could at least try and catch a thief in his honor,"

Barry smiled thoughtfully. This kid reminded him of himself, the reason he became a forensic scientist was for his father. He wanted to catch his mother's murderer. It was sort of how Connor wanted to catch this robber, for his dad's honor.

"I assume your eyes turn black when you are using your powers?" Caitlin began, and Connor nodded. "What were you doing with your powers that the security cameras caught?"

"I was trying to take away the guy's sense of touch. That way I could trip him up. But I couldn't get a good look at his face to do so. My powers only work when I can get clear eye contact with the target," By this point, everyone was interested in knowing more about the teen that they had wrongly imprisoned. Especially Harrison and Cisco.

"Does anyone else feel that this conversation is awkward while Connor is locked up? I think we should talk more upstairs," Barry offered, and Cisco nodded.

Dr. Wells agreed, and Cisco opened the pipeline cell door to release Connor. The boy stepped out carefully, not yet sure what they were going to do to him. He trusted them (sort of), but he was still being cautious. They walked up to the cortex to discuss more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Upstairs, Cisco and Caitlin sat at their computers while Barry leaned against the desk, and Harrison sat in his wheel chair.....obviously. Connor stood awkwardly, shuffling from foot to foot.

"What are your guys' names anyways?" He finally broke the silence.

"Oh! I'm Barry!" Barry said, taking off his Flash mask and extending a hand out to Connor.

"Secret identity," Caitlin coughed, and Barry mumbled 'sorry'.

"I'm Dr. Caitlin Snow. It's nice to meet you," Caitlin said with a polite smile.

"Cisco Ramon, the most interesting one here might I add," Cisco said enthusiastically.

"Dr. Harrison Wells," Harrison said.

 _Always the formal one._ Connor thought. _I'm not too sure about him._

"Would you mind if I took a few tests, Connor?" Caitlin asked, breaking Connor out of his state of mind.

"Why not?" Connor shrugged.

Twenty minutes later, Connor still sat on a stool with multiple wires attached to his head.

"Unbelievable," Caitlin muttered, looking at the test results on the computer.

"What?" Barry asked.

"It says that Connor's visual functions should be inactive. Apparently his sight was never developed," Caitlin replied.

"He should be blind," Barry mumbled.

"Oh....right," Connor said, rubbing the back of his neck. Everyone looked over to him, and he said nothing. Instead, he just detached the wires from his head and carefully set them down on top of the worktable.

"Care to explain, Mr. Owens?" Harrison pressed.

"I can see, now at least. But, before the particle accelerator explosion, I hadn't been able to. I was born blind," Connor answered. Everyone was shocked at the news.

"Dude," Cisco breathed.

"That must be the connection to your metahuman abilities," Barry said.

"Meta-whata?" Connor asked.

"After the particle accelerator explosion, multiple people were affected in some way. They developed powers, most use them for criminal purposes. But either way, they're called metahumans," Cisco explained. Connor nodded in understanding, not showing any sign of elaborating on his current state. When he noticed the three other people in the room staring at him intently, he realized that that was precisely what they wanted, however.

"Um, anyway, the night of the explosion, I was out dining with my real parents. We were driving back when the car was struck with some force, sending it flying off the road. My parents died, but I was taken to the hospital. I just had a few broken bones," Connor paused to take in a shaky breath, and Barry could tell it was hard to talk about. The longer Connor was around, the more Barry was reminded of himself. They're motives and back stories were extremely different, yet very similar all the same.

"My mom was a nurse at the hospital, so most workers there knew who I was. When I woke up about two days after, I could see. It was scary and overwhelming, literally being able to put a name to a face and understanding what colors really were. Doctors said it was a miracle.

"I was put into the system after I was discharged. My foster family doesn't really notice my existence much, but that's alright. I like being able to walk around outside alone without overprotective and worried people hovering over me 24/7. I still miss my parents though. I would give anything to have them back, even if it meant not getting powers and always being blind," Connor finished, looking down at his hands as he sat on his chair, fighting back tears.

The room was silent, no one knew what to say to that. For them, it all felt like déjà vu of when Barry explained the night of his mother's murder for the first time. Cisco, always being the diffuser of the sad and negative, decided to clear the air with a cheerful statement.

"What is your favorite color, now that you can understand what they are?" He asked Connor.

"This is going to sound really cheesy but, red. The red of Barry's suit to be specific," Connor replied, wrinkling his nose in embarrassment and awkwardness. Both Cisco and Barry broke out into wide grins.

"Yup. Everybody loves the suit," Cisco announced proudly, chomping on his licorice that he had taken out at some point, and turning away to look at his computer. Everyone laughed at Cisco's comedic antics.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After about 15 minutes of small talk between Connor and "Team Flash" as Cisco referred to himself and the others as, Caitlin spoke up.

"Dr. Wells, you said you had a proposition for Connor?" She reminded.

"Of course, thank you Caitlin'" Dr. Wells responded. "First things first, Hartley has returned," Harrison said, directing his words towards his three coworkers.

"What?!" Barry exclaimed, while Caitlin's eyes widened and Cisco choked on his licorice.

"Indeed. He just recently ransacked his parents' home, although nothing was stolen. I suspect he did that to get our attention,"

"How does this concern me? And who's Hartley?" Connor butted in, and everyone turned towards him. They'd forgotten his presence, Connor could tell because it happened often at his foster home.

"Hartley used to work here at S.T.A.R. Labs before the particle accelerator explosion. He has somewhat of a.....grudge against me," Harrison told Connor, and the teenager nodded.

"He's extremely violent and dangerous," Caitlin added.

"Precisely. And I want your help to stop him,"

"Are you insane? He's just a kid!" Barry shouted. "Hartley will kill him!"

"I'm highly confident that the outcome of the upcoming battle between you and Hartley will not result in Connor's death," Dr. Wells told Barry calmly.

"I don't know about that Harrison," a disembodied voice sneered from the speakers in the room.

"Hartley." Dr. Wells greeted emotionlessly.

Cisco groaned and slammed his head on the keyboard, Caitlin looked scared, and Barry was in between being defensive and angry. Connor wasn't confused like he had been during the first mention of Hartley, instead he was listening intently and fully aware of what was happening. Hartley had hacked into S.T.A.R. Labs (again), and was currently using his skills to spy on them. How long had he been listening in? What to do now?

"This 'Connor' you speak of to me sounds like another pawn in your little game to destroy me. And you and I both know that pawns always get the short end of the stick," Hartley continued. For the briefest of moments, there was an eerie silence. Then Hartley spoke.

"Chess, anyone?"


End file.
